The Ball by John Fox

Anthropologist John Fox sets off on a worldwide adventure to thefarthest reaches of the globe and the deepest recesses of our ancientpast to answer a question inspired by his sports-loving son:

"Why do we play ball?"

From Mexican jungles to the small-town gridirons of Ohio, frommedieval villages and royal courts to modern soccer pitches andbaseball parks, The Ball explores the little-known origins ofour favorite sports across the centuries, and traces how a simpleinvention like the ball has come to stake an unrivaled claim on ourpassions, our money, and our lives. Equal parts history and travelogue,The Ball removes us from the scandals and commercialism of today'ssports world to uncover the true reasons we play ball, helping us reclaimour universal connection to the games we love.

John Fox, a Harvard PhD in anthropology, has excavated ancient ball courts in Central America, traced Marco Polo's route across China, and biked Africa's Rift Valley in search of human origins. He has worked as an academic, and, more recently, as a co-leader of the Quest Channel Expeditions, a pioneering adventure learning program that took him and an online audience of a million young people on expeditions across six continents to explore the world's greatest scientific and historic mysteries. A recipient of a MacDowell fellowship, he has written about his many travels and adventures for Smithsonian, Outside, Salon, and CNN.com, among other publications. He has also appeared on Good Morning America (from the top of a pyramid!), the BBC's The World, and contributes regular commentaries on sports and culture to Vermont Public Radio. He lives in Boston.